Israel Will Be Punished
1 Do you rulers in Jerusalem
and in the city of Samaria
feel safe and at ease?
Everyone bows down to you,
and you think you are better
than any other nation.
But you are in for trouble!
2 Look what happened
to the cities of Calneh,
powerful Hamath,
and Gath in Philistia.
Are you greater than any
of those kingdoms?
3 You are cruel, and you forget
the coming day of judgment.
4 You rich people lounge around
on beds with ivory posts,
while dining on the meat
of your lambs and calves.
5 You sing foolish songs
to the music of harps,
and you make up new tunes,
just as David used to do.
6 You drink all the wine you want
and wear expensive perfume,
but you don't care about
the ruin of your nation.
7 So you will be the first
to be dragged off as captives;
your good times will end.
8 The Lord God All-Powerful
has sworn by his own name:
“You descendants of Jacob
make me angry by your pride,
and I hate your fortresses.
And so I will surrender your city
and possessions
to your enemies.”
9 If only ten of you survive
by hiding in a house
you will still die.
10 As you carry out a corpse
to prepare it for burial,
your relative in the house
will ask, “Are there others?”
You will answer, “No!”
Then your relative will reply,
“Be quiet! Don't dare mention
the name of the Lord.”
11 At the Lord's command,
houses great and small
will be smashed to pieces.
12 Horses can't gallop on rocks;
oceans can't be plowed.
But you have turned justice
and fairness
into bitter poison.
13 You celebrate the defeat
of Lo-Debar and Karnaim,
and you boast by saying,
“We did it on our own.”
14 But the Lord God All-Powerful
will send a nation to attack
you people of Israel.
They will capture Lebo-Hamath
in the north,
Arabah Creek in the south,
and everything in between.
Kukolomodziwa kwe Iziraela
1 Yee mme wee! Mapalala imwi mu gele makadzikama mu Ziyoni,
imwi munozwidwa muti makabakililika mu Dombo le Samariya,
imwi batungamili bakulu be itjaba tjikulu tje Iziraela,
imwi munokubunganigwa nge Baiziraela kubabhatsha.
2 Imwi munoti, “Tjulukilani ku Kaline munobona,
kudwapo mupindile ku Hamati nzi nkulu,
mube mudelukila ku Gati nzi we Bafilisitiya.
Apa mizi mikulu iyeyi yakasima kupinda mibuso ye Juda ne Iziraela kene? Kene ntuthu wabo nkulu pana wenyu?”
3 Imwi musingashake duma kuti zhuba le mbipo laswika,
koga musedzedza bushe gwe phipiti pejo.
4 Yee mme wee! Mapalala imwi munolala mu malawo akanakisiwa nge nyanga dze zhowu, muzwikolola mu zwigalo zwenyu. Moja phkwizana dzakashalugwa ne zwikondolo zwakakodziwa. 5 Molidza zwilidzo sa Dafite mu mba njimbo mulidza matende. 6 Mong'wa nkumbi we zhambi nge mapepe makulu ali zhele, muzhola zwizholo zwe ntengo upezhugwi, koga musingahwisiwe zogwadza ngokolomodziwa kwe Iziraela. 7 Ndizo wali mowobe bekutanga kutapiwa, mizano yenyu ye zojiwa ne kuzwikolola kwenyu kowopela.
8 She Yahwe Masimbawose bakatuna nge zina labo beti, “Ndoshima kuzwikudza kwa Jakubo, alingila pasi mbako dzidze hwulu. Ndowoyisa nzi nkulu kose ne kumuuli ku zwita zwawo.”
9 Ha kungasala bathu bali gumi mu nsha, na ibobo banowofa. 10 Ha musenga itumbu mutjilulwamisila mbiganyo, gamu lenyu limu ng'umba lobhuzwa liti, “Kuna bamwe bangabe basala kene?”
Dabilo inowozha iti, “Aa.”
Ipapo gamu lowobe liti, “Nyalala, tisitongoleba ngekwe zina la Yahwe.”
11 Bonani, Yahwe badusa ndaulo, ng'umba hwulu ikapkhwanyika ikasala ili magwada koga, ng'umba tukununu ikasala ili matjakatjaka. 12 Apa mbizi dzingalabuka mu shongwe kene? Apa ng'ombe dzingalima mu shongwe kene? Koga makashandula lebeswa likabe nti unobulaya ne mbhayilo we ndulamo ukababa.
13 Imwi munoshathila kukunda kwenyu Lodebhara, imwi munoti, “Apa atizokunda Karinayimu nge simba ledu kene?”
14 Yahwe Ndzimu we mibunga bakati, “Ndowodzonga tjimwe itjaba kubhayana namwi Baiziraela. Tjowomudziyidza zila yose kudwa ku nkoba we Hamati kunoti ku nkuku we Araba.”